About Beaufort West

The oldest town in the Great Karoo, Beaufort West is ideally situated as a central base from which to explore the Great Karoo and the Passes of the Swartberg Mountains.

The old Anglo-Boer War blockhouse still guards the red railway bridge. Built of local Karoo stone, it is a silent reminder of the boer and British soldiers that are buried in the town cemeteries.

Activities

Beaufort West, Place of Pioneers, is the oldest town in the Central Karoo, and lies in an area which has been inhabited for centuries. Some of the world's most interesting stone age sites have been discovered on its outskirts. Bushmen once lived here and fine examples of their rock art work have been found nearby. Beaufort West became the world’s richest collecting grounds for fossils and Scientists have since described the Karoo and its fossils as one of the great wonders of the world.

Professor Christiaan Barnard, the town’s most famous son, performed the first successful human-to-human heart transplant. He is honoured in the local museum, which houses a display of
awards presented to him and a replica of the original heart transplant theatre.

A world of wonderful surprises awaits once you enter this magnificent part of the Western Cape in South Africa. Beaufort West is finally awakening and the nearby future will reveal even more of its still hidden potential and treasures, just waiting to burst out into the open!